Dating Game
by ghostanimal
Summary: Paulina can't remember the details of her brief relationship with Danny Fenton during the events of Lucky in Love, including why they got together and why they broke up. Her best friend reports that they seemed happy and had a good time together. So what happened? She resolves to date him again to find out why. Post D-Stabilized, Pre-PP [Danny/Paulina]
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned Danny Phantom! Desiree: -turns me into Butch Hartman- AHHHHHHHHH! CHANGE ME BACK CHANGE ME BACK! -is changed back**

 **Hello, I'm back at it again with the lack of self control and the fact that I basically ship nearly everything, and this ship has like...a handful of fanfictions.**

* * *

"I'm through with Dash!" Paulina's locker slammed shut. "He's such a pig, and he's-he's-he's such a JERK!" Star hummed boredly as she popped her bubble of gum, chewing it as she finishing checking on her eyeliner.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice a bit deadpanned as she already knew exactly what her best friend was going to tell her.

"He showed up late to pick me up, then took me to go hang out with his friends!" Paulina's cheeks were red with anger, holding her textbooks to her chest tightly. "Soon as he dropped me off, I told him that I never wanted to see him again! We're through!"

"Give it a week," Star told her. She spit her gum into a piece of paper before moving to touch up her lip gloss.

"No, I mean it this time!" Paulina huffed. "I'm so sick of Dash! I need somebody who, when they say we're going out for dinner, we go out to dinner instead of overly greasy pizza and video games with his buddies." Paulina took a few deep breaths before she began to relax. She closed her eyes, exhaling deeply. "But, now that I'm back on the market, I'm just going to put some moves on Mike until he asks me out." Star gave a disapproving hum.

"Won't do. Mike's going out with Tiffany now," Star replied. Paulina's eyes went a bit wide, leaning her shoulder against the locker.

"Really? Since when?" she demanded to know. Star smiled, finishing up applying her lip gloss.

"Since only about a week ago. He asked her to the movies, and they apparently made out the whole time. You want some?" She offered her lip gloss over. Paulina nodded, accepting it.

"Yeah, thanks," Paulina replied, and she hummed, glancing into Star's locker mirror as she applied the lip gloss. "Hm. What about Dale?" Star shook her head.

"Nah, he's still with Rebecca. I can't believe they've lasted this long," Star commented. Paulina frowned.

"Really? With the way she dresses? It's so out of fashion," Paulina scrunched her nose up. "What about Paul? He has to be single, right?" Star shook her head no.

"Nah. He asked Mia out to eat just yesterday." Paulina handed back the lipgloss, and Star put it in a zippered makeup pouch, putting it back in her locker.

"Then who's single?" Paulina asked, dejectedly. "All the other jocks I know of are dating other people on the team, or they've got girlfriends at other schools." Star shrugged, shutting her locker.

"Why not just date Fenton again?" she questioned. "I mean, you never really even told me why you guys broke up. Besides like, all the obvious stuff like his weirdo parents and the unpopular thing." Paulina froze, staring at Star. That's right. She had dated Fenton.

"...You know...I...God, this is going to sound so weird, but I actually don't...remember much of that time," Paulina spoke slowly, her voice growing softer and softer. "I mean, I remember some but...most of it's this weird blur, ya know?" Star raised an eyebrow.

"You're gonna have to elaborate on that," she told her, and the two began to walk together down the hall. Paulina was quiet for a moment.

"I mean, I remember that I was dating Danny, and I remember some of what we did. We went on a picnic, and we went out to eat," Paulina began to explain, trying to rack her brain. Star listened patiently as Paulina paused. "I don't remember why we broke up. I think it had to do with ghosts?"

"Maybe?" Star shrugged. They reached their classroom, but didn't head inside just yet, instead opting to stand near lockers until the last possible moment. "I gotta say though, I'm kinda surprised you guys broke up. You seemed really happy with him." Paulina was very taken aback by this. Fenton? Making her happy?

"I...I, uh, I did?" Paulina was baffled. Why on earth did she break up with that loser then? Other than the fact that he was a loser? Maybe that was why. But if he made her happy...

Jeez, why was her memory of their dating experience so scattered and vague? It was like she was in a fog the entire time.

"I mean, yeah. You guys were always pretty smiley and happy," Star told her. "I, on the other hand, got stuck with his weird friend. You know, Foley? God, he was weird. I don't regret dumping him for Kwan. But Danny? He seemed nice. Dunno why you guys ended it." Paulina frowned.

"Well, I'm going to find out," Paulina huffed. "Hold my stuff." Star immediately put her arms out to hold Paulina's stuff. She used Star as a table, opening a notebook to a random page and taking a pen out to jot down a note.

"Are you sure you're going to go through with this?" Star whispered to her friend, and Paulina nodded.

"Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back," Paulina hummed. She finished off her note, and she tore the paper out. "I can't even honestly remember why I began dating him the first go around. I mean, you know me. Paulina Sanchez doesn't date just anybody. There had to be something about him, something special, that made me even consider dating such low hanging fruit." Star gave a hum and shrug as Paulina took her stack back.

"True. I mean, you never told me why you were suddenly so into Fenton for a while. Not why you suddenly dropped him like a hot potato. So what'd you write?" Paulina held up the note for her best friend to proof-read.

 _Fenton,_

 _Meet me after school in the library. I really need to talk to you._

 _Paulina_

"Simple and to the point, aye?" Star commented. Paulina nodded.

The bell rang, and Paulina began to quickly fold up the paper. She scooted inside alongside Star. She noticed the goth and geek were sitting in their seats, and that Danny was just now slipping into one next to them. She strolled up to him, putting the note on his desk, and she continued on as if she had done nothing. She heard him call her name, but she simply ignored it and took her usual seat.

* * *

Paulina slipped inside of the library, glancing around. She saw Danny sitting at a table, looking frazzled and out of breath as he hunched over a book. His hair seemed even messier than normal, and his shirt sleeve was torn at the shoulder. As she came closer to him, she noticed that he had a bruise on his cheek, and that underneath the torn sleeve (which he had apparently tried to makeshift back together with staples) was a bandage. He seemed perfectly fine during class earlier. What on earth happened? She frowned lightly as she pulled up the seat in front of him.

"Hey, Danny," she greeted him. She kept her voice cool and even, trying to show her usual lack of interest towards him. Danny glanced up at her, surprised.

"Oh, hey," he replied. He hesitantly shove a pencil into the book he was reading and shut it. It was a science textbook. "What's up? You...you wanted to talk?" Danny ran a hand through his hair in a seeming attempt to tame it some. It did nothing.

"I had a question," Paulina replied, and she paused. The more she thought about it, the weirder it seemed. Why did she remember so little of an apparent relationship she had with this spazz in front of her? Where on earth did he get so bruised and his shirt torn? Dash...admittedly was probably behind the bruise, but how on earth did he get that cut on his shoulder? It had to be a cut. Not just because of the bandage, but now that she was sitting so close to him, she could see specs of blood that were bleeding through the bandages. Unless somebody shanked him in the bathroom or something, but wouldn't the police be here if that happened? Fenton was so weird.

"Y...yeah?" Danny seemed...so anxious. This took Paulina aback. She figured that he'd be full of excited hope. But instead he seemed almost terrified. Did he think all of this was a prank? Well, it wouldn't be the first time it happened to somebody.

"What happened to us?" she blurted out.

"...Us?" Danny questioned, staring at her blankly. "I thought there wasn't any 'us'. Aren't you dating Dash?"

"Not anymore," she admitted. "But that's not what this is about!" she quickly added before Danny could even bother asking why she dumped that jerk. "There was an us though before. We dated for like...at least three weeks? Remember?"

Interestingly enough, Danny's face continued to be blank and confused before a metaphorical light clicked, and his eyes lit up.

"Oh! Yeah! We dated for like...yeah about three weeks," he admitted. He shifted uncomfortably, and this caused Paulina some hope, as well as some mild insult. Did he not remember either? It just wasn't her? I mean, she was probably the best he could have ever gotten, he would have definitely remembered instantly that they had dated.

"Do you remember any of it?" she asked. Danny looked at her curiously.

"You...don't remember?" he questioned. Paulina shook her head no, and she leaned on the table, putting a hand to her forehead.

"Not really!" she confessed. "I remember like, bits and pieces of it. Like I know we dated, but I can't remember much. Like, I don't know why I even asked you out, just that _I_ had asked _YOU_ out, and I never do that! It's just like...one day we were dating and a blur later, we broke up."

"...I don't know why you asked me out," Danny soon spoke up. "I-I have like, no clue. And I remember...some of the dates. Some of it's, uh, kind of a blur too? I guess?" Paulina glanced up at him. "But, uh, I do remember that it was great dating you." Paulina giggled.

"Yeah, I bet it was great to get a taste of being popular, huh?" she smiled. Danny shook his head.

"I don't remember any of that," he told her. She stared at him. "I remember how nice it was to go out and have fun with you. We went on...a picnic and to the movies and out to eat, and we did homework together. It was just...nice being with you. I never hung out with Dash or like, Star or any of your popular friends."

Paulina did remember Danny being sweet. Opening doors for her, holding her hand, listening to her, offering to walk out of his way to make sure she got home okay. Even when he knew it would break his curfew. Dash occasionally did some of those things for her. Why did she trade in Danny for Dash?

"Danny...do you remember why we broke up?" she questioned. Danny had this weird expression almost immediately. She couldn't identify it at all.

"I...I'm not sure," he finally stammered out. "I guess I just wasn't popular enough for you? Or like, I dunno honestly."

Paulina went quiet. Why did she and Danny break up? She couldn't rack her mind for any negative memories of their time together. The picnic, the movies, being walked home, vague memories of their phone calls. What happened? She could even remember the old emotions of liking him so much. Where did those feelings go? Three weeks was a long time for her. Even with Dash, they normally broke up once a month, she'd date another person for a while, and then get back together with him.

"What do you have planned for tomorrow?" she asked. Danny stammered a bit as he seemed to mentally go through his schedule.

"Uh, well, uh, I have school but then I was just gonna hang out with-"

"Not anymore," Paulina interrupted. "You're taking me out." Danny made a choking noise before coughing.

"W-what?" Paulina huffed.

"You heard me," she snapped before sighing heavily. "Danny, I can't remember why we got together, like 80 percent of our relationship or why we even broke up. I rarely date non-jocks, and I never date anybody that _isn't_ an A lister! But you were somehow this exception for three whole weeks, and I can't piece together why. So I'm going to find out why. You're taking me out tomorrow, okay?" Danny was quiet for a moment.

"O-okay," he finally spoke up. "What do you want to do?" She thought for a moment.

"Let's go out to eat," she decided.

"Do you want to go straight after school, or should I like, pick you up at like, some specific time?" Danny wondered.

"Just meet me there at six," she told him. "There being Diner, okay?"

"U-uh, Diner tomorrow at six," he replied hesitantly. "I'll see you there."

Paulina nodded, and she stood.

"See you tomorrow at school," she told him. She narrowed her eyes. "You better not skip out or ghost me at Diner tomorrow either, or I will hunt you down." Danny's eye twitched, and she could tell that he was holding back an amused smile.

"Wouldn't dream of it."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned Danny Phantom! Desiree: -turns me into Butch Hartman- AHHHHHHHHH! CHANGE ME BACK CHANGE ME BACK! -is changed back**

 **Slowly stares out at the people who came here for the fanfic. Wh...where did y'all come from?**

 **But also! Wanted to state because somebody had asked: To clarify, this takes place during the normal DP fanfiction timelines of post D-Stabilized, Pre-PP. Danny and Paulina are sophomores in high school, and they are both 16. I added in the summary to the story's main summary.  
**

* * *

"I still cannot believe it. I _refuse_ to," Star declared the second Paulina opened the passenger door. Star was buckled into her car, a sweet sixteenth present. It wasn't the fanciest, but it wasn't so old that she nor Paulina would refuse to be seen in it. Paulina rolled her eyes, putting her school bag, an oversized purse, on the floorboard before slipping inside. "Paulina, this is going like, all over on Facebook and Twitter! How long as you going to pretend to date Fenton before you just hook back up with Dash?"

"I'm done with that jerk," Paulina replied hotly. She shut the door before buckling her seatbelt. Star leaned forward to check for oncoming cars before merging back onto the road. "I mean it, Star. Dash is immature, and I need a man. I was talking about it with Mama last night, and she agrees too. It's time I stepped up and found a guy who's not going to constantly drag me along to be with his idiot friends. Even if I break up with Danny, I'm done with Dash. Permanently." Star let out a low whistle.

"This is the longest you've ever gone with still being mad at Dash," she commented.

"I mean it, Star!" Paulina exclaimed with a frown. She pulled her bag onto her lap to dig through it. "I'm so over him! He's just going to drag me down anyway. I still wanna go to Berkeley. It's time for me to really get serious about my life and my future." Paulina found what she was looking for, her make-up bag. She opened it, pulling out a compact mirror to assure her make-up was perfect for the day. "There's just no way that Dash is going to get into Berkeley with his grades." Star snorted in amusement.

" _You_ don't even have the grades to get into Berkeley," Star reminded her. She glanced at her cupholder, grabbing a package of gum from it. She awkwardly fiddled with a wrapper to pop one into her mouth. Paulina scowled at her.

"You don't know that," she huffed. "I still have time to pull it together."

"Paulina, only real, dedicated nerds like Jazz Fenton can get into schools like Berkeley," Star told her.

Paulina didn't say anything in reply. She couldn't wait until she was able to drive her own car to school again. She quickly finished checking up on her make-up and put the items back in her bag. She stared out the window as their school came into view. Students were beginning to crowd the sidewalks, meeting up with friends as they gathered before classes officially began. Star made the turn into the student parking lot, and Paulina's eyes narrowed angrily as Star claimed a spot.

"I'll see you in class," she told Star quickly. Before her friend could reply, Paulina was out of the car, barely shutting the door. Her bag was on her shoulder, and she was power walking towards the school.

Anger began to boil in her blood as she saw her ex with her current beau. Dash had begun to cause a bit of a scene, a handful of Danny's shirt in his fist as he was yelling, another in his face as he threatened him. Danny himself was on his tip-toes, trying to prevent his shirt from getting ripped as Dash was ripping into him.

"-Less than a **DAY,** Fenton! Paulina is my girl, and I'm going to make sure you don't dare forget it." she caught the tail end of Dash's rant.

"Dash!" she snapped, her tone hissing. Dash immediately jerked his head towards her, letting go of Danny. Danny hesitated before fumbling a bit as he fully stood on his feet properly. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I-I heard the rumors!" he told her. His tone had gone from so pissed off to so panicked on a dime. "I heard that Fenton put the moves on you less than a day after we broke up!" Paulina scowled, putting her hands on her hips.

"You're a fucking idiot," she replied simply. Dash visibly looked taken aback, jaw dropping a bit. "I told Danny that he can take me out today after school. That's one of your big problems, ya know? You just believe every stupid thing you hear and don't even bother to figure out the truth." Dash's eyes flickered to Fenton, worriedly. Paulina glanced at him too. She noticed that Danny had begun to back up to try and escape, to blend into the crowd of students that had began to wander closer out of curiosity, but froze upon being spotted. Dash shot the teen a glare before a spark of realization came over him.

"L-Look, I'm sorry, okay!?" Dash's voice dropped to an annoyed scowl as he clenched his fists together. "I'm sorry I took you to hang out with my friends instead of going out like I promised. I-I'll take you somewhere nice, for real, tonight, okay? I swear."

"No. I'm done, Dash. I mean it. You had your chance, you had a lot of chances. It's over," she told him. She brushed past him, going straight for Danny. She took his hand, squeezing it hard as she half-dragged him away with her. She pulled them up the stairs towards the school, opening the door and dragging him inside.

How dare he? How fucking dare he? It was the same old, same old crap he pulled every time! Treated her like crap, constantly ignored her and then came waddling back like a lost puppy when she dumped him and picked up somebody new. Her grip on Danny tightened, and she heard him yelp.

"U-uh Paulina?" Danny's voice snapped her from her thought, and she immediately let go of his hand and stopped walking. Where was she even going? They were just in the middle of the mostly empty hallway. School wasn't supposed to start for another fifteen minutes. She felt Danny lightly nudge her shoulder, but she didn't turn around. She just crossed her arms, biting the inside of her lip as she stared at the ugly tiled floors of the school. "Paulina?"

"What?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper. She soon saw Danny's jeans and shoes in front of her, and she glanced up.

"Paulina, I-I think I know what this is all really about," Danny told her. Paulina gave a small sniffle.

"What do you mean?" she asked, straightening a bit.

"You asked me out so you can get back at Dash, right?" he guessed. Paulina frowned. "Make him jealous?"

"No! Danny! I!" she could feel frustrated tears threatening to overspill, and she bit the inside of her lip once more to prevent ruining her eyeliner and eyeshadow, but more importantly, prevent crying in front of Fenton. "I...I'm so done with Dash. I'm so...so tired of him." Her voice was cracking a bit. "H-he never calls, I can't rely on him for any rides anywhere without basically agreeing to make-out. I tell him all the time to not throw my purse around because my make-up stuff is in there and every single time he does that he breaks the powders up! I have to repack it all the time, and it's so annoying to do!" Her voice shook more and more, and she could feel tears beginning to spill over. God damn it, she was going to have to redo her make-up. "I go to all of his football games, but he's never come to my cheerleading competitions. He's such a jerk! And I'm just...I'm _just so tired_ of him."

Danny gave her a sympathetic smile. He opened an arm, and she immediately leaned into his side hug and rested her head against his shoulder, sniffling. He gave her a light squeeze. Something felt off about his hug. Not in the weird way either. Paulina was very used to the creeper hug and touch. Something was off about his hug in a way she couldn't really piece together. It wasn't bad at all. It was honestly nice, comforting, and they stayed quiet, save for Paulina's occasional sniffling.

"Do you really think you're ready to move on so quick?" Danny broke the silence. "Maybe you should take a while to just, ya know, focus on yourself." Paulina shook her head no, and she began to pull away, carefully dabbing at her cheeks to wipe away the brief tears.

"No," she replied. She began to pull her bag to her chest to dig through it. She located and pulled out her compact mirror. Ha! Her make-up was still pretty decent. Thank Youtube tutorials for water-proof make-up tips. She closed it, looking up at him. "I'll be fine."

"We don't have to go out," Danny spoke. Paulina gave him a Look.

"Are you trying to get out of a date?" Danny had a deer in the headlights look.

"N-no!" he stammered. "J-just I didn't...well, you know." Danny gasped, and Paulina narrowed her eyes at him. Danny's eyes grew wider, and he began to look around at their surroundings hurriedly. "I-I gotta go! Class is about to begin!"

Paulina stared as Danny began to dart down the hallway and around the corner.

"...We have the same first period," she said, mostly to herself.

* * *

Danny ended up never showing for first period, and coming in dramatically late for the other two periods they shared. Needless to say, Paulina was not happy with her new boyfriend-to-be. How could she figure out anything if he was avoiding her? Well, Danny was...kind of always late to class, so she can't really blame him for that factor. But ditching her and first period entirely? What was a low blow.

She knew exactly where his little group sat at lunch. The goth freak, the techno geek, and the weirdo from the family of ghost hunters. A true squad of losers. They had a specific table they always claimed. Sometimes they had ex-A lister Val with them. Star and the ex-A lister had begun a habit of eating and studying in the library together, sometimes with Kwan tagging along. Today was a non-ex-A lister day. Thankfully. Paulina did not want to have to talk to the has-been.

Paulina held her tray with a tight grip as she stared at her...boyfriend? Were they boyfriend-girlfriend? Yeah, they had to be. They had a date tonight. She hummed as she came over to his table.

"Oh, Danny!" she called out, and she saw a delighted smile on the goth's face instantly sour into a disgusted frown. The geek seemed a bit confused. "Did you wanna come with sit me?"

Danny stared at her before glancing at his friends before up to her.

"Um, why don't…" His eyes darted to the goth, who was shaking her head no furiously. "You uh...You can sit with us?" he offered, and the goth immediately scowled. Paulina blinked.

"Don't you want to come and sit with me and my friends?" she asked hopefully. Danny shot her a smile.

"Paulina, if you want this...dating thing to work, you should get to know my friends," he replied.

"But in that case, you should get to know my friends too," Paulina lightly argued. She glanced back hopefully at the table of her fellow A-listers.

"Make you a deal. Sit with me and my friends today, and we'll sit with yours tomorrow," he offered. He scooted down to make room for her. He paused, making a gasping choking noise. Danny scrambled out of his seat, and he put his hands on her shoulders, lightly pushing her into the seat. Paulina went along with the movements, staring at him. "Actually, you should talk with them now while I go...get some pudding." Paulina glanced at his lunch tray.

"You have pudding there," she pointed out.

"I really like pudding!" Danny replied quickly, and he bolted. To the entrance of the cafeteria. Paulina stared after him before a low grumbling snapped her attention back to the two losers in front of her. The goth and the geek.

"Uh...Sam, right?" She pointed a finger to the goth. She glared daggers at her in response, and said nothing. "And...Tyler?" The geek gave her a Look.

"It's Tucker," he corrected, and Paulina winced, but didn't apologize.

"So, what are you up to?" the goth, Sam, spoke up. She was still glaring, and Paulina glared right back at her.

"None of your business," she replied hotly.

"It _is_ my business. Danny's one of my best friends," the goth snapped. "I don't know what you think you're trying to do, or what your deal is, but you need to stop playing all these mind games with him when we all know that you're just going to dump him and go crawling right back to your idiot jock boyfriend." Paulina's temper immediately began to flare.

"Look, I'm done with Dash!" Paulina snapped, slamming her palm on the table. Tucker jumped. "He's a jerk, and I'm sick of him! I'm not gonna lie, I'm not really sure why I want to date Danny. But we dated before, and it apparently was great. I can't even remember it, why we got together that time or why we broke up, but there was something about him that made me want to date him. So I might as well give it another shot." The goth let out a noise that sounded like a muffled scream.

"That's because! Ugh!" the goth slammed her fists on the table in response, face growing red with anger. "You're such a shallow witch!"

"Me!? Shallow!? You don't even know me!" Paulina shot back.

"Man, Danny sure is taking his time getting that pudding," the geek suddenly spoke up, his voice shaking, and Paulina forced herself to calm down. She noticed that during the little shouting match, the geek had scooted down the table a bit from them, and that people had begun to stare.

"Look. You don't get to decide who Danny dates, just like how he doesn't get to decide who you date," Paulina tried to keep her tone even. "That's his life. Now I suggest you butt out and mind your own fucking business."

The goth looked like she wanted to explode, her face getting redder and angrier. A set of hands slapped on the table, and the losers plus Paulina jumped upon seeing Danny standing at the end, panting hard. He was sweating, and his jeans were ripped at the knee.

"Danny, you look like you had to chase down a giant dog," the goth spoke in an annoyingly mocking tone, giving a pointed look at Paulina. What the hell did that even mean? What right did she have to be so damn smug? Danny gave a breathless chuckle.

"Y-yeah, sounds about right," he replied nervously, and he took his seat.

"...Where's your pudding?" Paulina questioned. Danny froze, staring at her.

"...I ate it." She continued to stare at him, and Danny flinched. "I...couldn't wait?"

...What? Paulina just stared at him, and Danny stared back before finally looking away and beginning to eat his lunch. What on earth did she ever see in this weirdo? A sea of regrets was quickly settling over her. The hell did she get herself into? She should have accepted his advice earlier and just stay single for a while. Wait for Dale to be single, or Paul. Paul was really nice.

She silently stole a glance at Danny as he used a napkin to wipe away the sweat. He seemed a bit pale and exhausted. There was always something a little off about him, but what was it? Fenton was so weird, but not in the creepy weird like the geek, or that scary weird like the goth. It wasn't the overly nerdy weird of the math club or the overly weeb weird of the anime kids. Paulina could only guess it was this strange flavor of weirdness that had originally drawn her to begin with.

But what was it?

Paulina slowly began to eat her lunch as Danny began to start up a conversation with the geek. She had no clue what made Danny so different, but she had to find out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned Danny Phantom! Desiree: -turns me into Butch Hartman- AHHHHHHHHH! CHANGE ME BACK CHANGE ME BACK! -is changed back**

 **weeps...I'm not trying to abandon this story. I legitimately got really stuck on what to do, and while this isn't nearly as long as I'd like it to be, I'm hoping at least pushing it out there will help me get out of the funk and move on, as well as assure y'all that this story isn't dead, and I'm still very interested in it.**

* * *

Paulina stared up at the kitchen clock, lightly humming to herself. It was nearly five. In fifteen minutes, she'd have a good excuse to leave and just take her time walking. If she also cut through the park. And stopped at the pond to maybe see if that one pretty swan was still hanging out. She sighed, returning her attention back to the math book in front of her. Where was she again?

"Honey? What are you all dressed up for?" Paulina looked up as her mom passed her towards the stove.

"Hey, Mama. I have a date at six," she replied, sitting up straight. Paulina had pulled her hair in a half-ponytail and had traded her usual attire for a sleeveless button down green top, a knee-length pink skirt and matching flats. She put her pencil down, happy for the excuse to ditch math for a few moments. Her mom gave a tired sigh.

"Oh honey. I thought you were done with Dash?" she replied. Her mom searched through the fridge before pulling out a container of leftovers.

"I am!" Paulina insisted. "It's not with Dash. It's with Danny." Her mom visibly perked up a bit at the unfamiliar name.

"Oh?" she questioned, looking suddenly very interested. Her mother put the box into the microwave. "I've never heard of a Danny before." Paulina glanced at the clock. This conversation could eat up enough time to avoid having to do anymore homework.

"We dated before," Paulina replied. "Last year, for a few weeks. He's really nice." Her mom thought for a moment as she closed the microwave door and pressing a few buttons.

"Are you talking about the Fenton boy?" she questioned. Paulina nodded. "Oh, good! I liked him. Very polite young man." Paulina's heart skipped a beat. Her mom remembered him? Her mom met him?

"You liked him?" Paulina asked, closing her math book. Her mom frowned.

"Yes, but Paulina, how much left of that math do you have to do?" She winced, opening the book back up.

"I'm mostly done," she said slowly. Her mom gave her a Look. "I'll finish it when I get back! I only have five more problems to do!"

"Your date's not until six, you can finish five more problems before you go," her mom insisted.

"Nope! I gotta walk!" Paulina reminded her. "Unless I can drive there?" she added hopefully. Her mom shot her a smile as the microwave beeped, and she took her food out.

"Not a chance, sweetie. But you keep working, and I'll drive you there so you can make sure you finish that math before you go," she replied cheerfully. Paulina groaned, picking up her pencil. "Paulina, we talked about this."

"I know, I know," she muttered, eyes returning to the problems at hand. Her mom took her seat across the table from her with her food.

"Honey, we just want to see you succeed."

"...I know, Mama."

* * *

"Oh, I see Danny!" Paulina called out, interrupting her mom's monologue about responsibility. Her mom glanced over to see the teen was chilling out on one of the benches outside the restaurant. She pulled in towards the sidewalk.

Danny had glanced up, noticing them. He pocketed his phone and half-jogged over to them. Paulina had already exited the car, happily smiling at him. Danny had, to her surprise, changed into a nicer shirt, a button down.

"Hey Paulina," he greeted her. He ducked down a bit. "Hello Mrs. Sanchez!"

"Hello, Danny!" her mom chirped cheerfully. Her mom never spoke so warmly to Dash. "You two have fun! I want you home by ten, Paulina!" Her tone had quickly changed to a stern, warning one when addressing her daughter.

"No worries, Mrs. Sanchez!" Danny replied. "I'll make sure she gets home safe before ten!" Her mom gave a small wave.

"Thank you, Danny. Call if you need anything!"

Her mom, thankfully, began to pull away and drive off, and Paulina gave a soft exhale of relief as she waved her mom off. She turned to Danny, smiling warmly.

"Ready?" she asked, holding her hand out. Danny hesitated before taking her hand.

"Uh, yeah!" Despite the apprehension, he looked eager. "Let's eat."

* * *

It was so...average.

She had pecked his cheek goodnight after he walked her home, and he was polite. There was nothing terrible about Danny. He was kind and held the door for her, had good table manners and was overall a gentleman. Paulina never expected anything else. But other than that, she was confused.

Paulina scrolled through her own instagram before she hit the jackpot she was looking for. Photos from her relationship with Danny. Photos she, thankfully, never deleted.

One of her and Danny on a picnic. Them together going flower picking. Them hanging out in her room. Her smiling brightly at the camera while Danny held her from behind, pecking her cheek, next to an image of her doing the same to him. They looked so happy. She could see it in herself and him.

Where was that spark they seemingly had? The one that made her so happy and seemingly made them stick together like glue? It was almost disappointing. Did she just imagine it all? She had no clue what to think.

She went to Facebook. She placed herself at several locations with one Danny Fenton. Wow, they went so many places. There they were, together and smiling. Bowling with her friends. A picture somebody took of him leaning over the railings at school to give her a peck on the cheek before she went to cheerleading practice. Paulina was so lost. Why couldn't she remember any of these experiences?

She went to Danny's Facebook. They had apparently friended each other during this time, and she hadn't ever defriended him. She liked having the extra followers and friends.

He had Nothing.

And not for lack of a social media presence either. He had occasional posts and photos. Nothing in comparison to her activity, but he definitely existed. It couldn't be because they broke up. He still had photos from when he dated Valerie. Where was she? Was their breakup that messily? But he said he couldn't remember it either. She didn't understa-.

"Paulina? Are you still awake?" her mother's voice accused her through her shut door. Paulina winced, putting her phone down and hurriedly moving to put on pajamas.

"I'm just preparing my bag for school tomorrow," she lied.

"Finish up quick, and go to bed," came the scolding.

"Yes, Mama!" Paulina replied. She quickly prepared for bed and hopped in. She had a lot of questions for Danny.


End file.
